Many end users, such as utility companies, pipeline companies, and municipalities withdraw water from natural water bodies of fresh water for daily use. Some end users, such as natural gas companies, municipalities, and pipeline companies, use large amounts of water during their daily operations. For example, natural gas companies may use water in a technique known as hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracing. Fracing includes creating fissures in rocks (e.g. shale) under the surface by a pressurized fluid made up of water, sand and additives to release petroleum, gas (e.g. natural gas) or other substances into a wellbore to be collected at the surface. A typical natural gas well requires a continuous flow of fresh water to operate and may use 3.5 million gallons of water per fracing event. Fracing events may occur multiple times per year, resulting in a large ratio (typically 25-30%) of the cost of operation for the gas company.
The end users typically operate proximate to a fresh water supply, such as a river or stream, to retrieve the continuous flow of fresh water needed for operation. Conditions of the fresh water supply may change during the year, however, which limits or prevents use of the fresh water supply for distribution to the end users. For example, government restrictions (e.g. pass-by restriction) prevent the end users from using the fresh water supply (e.g. a river) if the water supply moves below a certain wa Harleysvilleter level, such as from drought conditions.
To avoid shut down during times when the end users are prevented, or otherwise limited, from using the fresh water (e.g. from pass-by restriction), water from other sources, such as treated water may be transported by truck or pipeline to the end user. The treated water often originates from impaired water bodies, such as acid mine drainage (AMD) water bodies and mine pool water bodies. Conventional systems and methods of supplying water from impaired water bodies include trucking the impaired water and piping the impaired water from the impaired water supplies to treatment and/or storage facilities either at the operation sites or at a remote location from which the treated water is shipped. In either case, costly trucking or piping is used in at least one phase of moving impaired water to the treatment facility and/or the operation sites.
These conventional systems and methods for supplying the water from impaired water bodies are typically inefficient and expensive alternatives. A more efficient and environmental friendly system and method of supplying water to the end users is needed.